After the manufacture of a semiconductor device, there remains the need to package and mount the device to a surface to provide connections to other devices, and to protect the device from damage. Additionally, the mounting surface and protective covering can provide a means to dissipate heat from the device.
It is increasingly important to have efficient heat transfer from semiconductor devices, as device power densities increase and device package form-factors decrease. It is also important to avoid damaging, and to prevent uncoupling of, the semiconductor devices from other components of the package. Such uncoupling can be caused by, e.g., mechanical or thermal stresses imposed on the device package. Existing methods of coupling devices to a package involve the use of flexible materials, which can tolerate mechanical or thermal stresses, but which have poor heat transfer, or, the use of brittle materials, which have good heat transfer, but cannot tolerate mechanical or thermal stresses.